♪ >> you tell us to have the power to forgive, the capacity to be reconciled. >> he gazed at the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. >> he dreamed of an america where all citizens would sit together at the table of brotherhood. >> his words belong to the ages. possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time. >> good afternoon. i'm tamron hall. 50 years and nearly two generations and here we stand, a

nation reflecting on one of the greatest moments in our history. and a guiding light for our future. the faces of those carrying the torch lit by dr. martin luther king jr. were back today, retraitsing the steps taken by a quarter million americans seeking equality and jobs. it's also today where the first african-american president, arguably the personification of dr. king's dream addressed the crowd in the shadow of greatness. dr. king's speech was incredibly just under 17 minutes long. 1651 words, he was only 34 years old. a speech delivered in a different age at the time carried by just a few networks without the power of the internet or twitter or facebook to help spread that message. it is a speech that the king family closely protects, making sure to preserve the legacy of an iconic leader. now, 50 years later, on this historic anniversary as we

remember that pivotal moment msnbc has the opportunity to share those remarks in their entirety. >> i am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. >> five score years ago, a great american, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation. this momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of negro slaves who had

been seared in the flames of withering injustice. it came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. but 100 years later, the negro still is not free. 100 years later, the life of the negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. 100 years later, the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

[ applause ] 100 years later, the negro is still languishing in the corners of american society and finds himself an exile in his own land. so we've come here today to drama tise a shameful condition. in a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every american was to fall heir. this note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life,

liberty and the pursuit of happiness. it is obvious today that america has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. instead of honoring this sacred obligation, america has given the negro people a bad check a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. we refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. so we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give

us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. we have also come to this hallowed spot to remind america of the fierce urgency of now. this is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. now is the time to make justice a reality for all of god's children. it would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment, this sweltering summer of the negro'slith discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. those who hope that the negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

there will be neither rest nor tranquility in american until the negro is granted his citizenship rights. the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. but there is something that i must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness.

and hatred. we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. the marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. we cannot walk alone. and as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. we cannot turn back. there are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "when will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as the negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. we cannot be satisfied as long

as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." we cannot be satisfied as long as a negro in mississippi cannot vote and a negro in new york believes he has nothing for which to vote. no, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

i am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. you have been the veterans of creative suffering. continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. go back to mississippi, go back to alabama, go back to south carolina, go back to georgia, go back to the louisiana, go back

to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. let us not wallow in the valley of despair. i say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, i still have a dream. it is a dream deeply rooted in the american dream. i have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "we hold these truths to be

system of self- -- self evident that all men are created equal." i have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream that one day even the state of mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. i have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of

their character. i have a dream today. i have a dream that one day, down in alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in alabama, little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls as sisters and brothers. i have a dream today. i have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight,

and the glory of the lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. this is our hope. this is the faith that i go back to the south with, with this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. with this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. with this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. this will be the day when all of god's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "my country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee i sing.

land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." and if america is to be a great nation, this must become true. so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of new hampshire. let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of new york. let freedom ring from the heightening alleghenies of pennsylvania. let freedom ring from the snowcapped rockies of colorado. let freedom ring from the curva ceo us slopes of california. but not only that; let freedom ring from the stone mountain of georgia. let freedom ring from lookout mountain of tennessee! let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of mississippi, from every mountain side, let freedom ring.

when we allow freedom ring, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all god's children, black men and white men, jews and gentiles, protestants and catholics, will be able to to inhands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, free at last free at last! thank god almighty, we are free at last!" >> the entire speech given by dr. martin luther king, 17 minutes of it. and today freedom did ringing in 300 separate sites where bellss tolled across this country, nearly every state marking this moment. joining me now from washington, congresswoman eleanor holmes

norton, democrat washington, d.c. who worked in the march organizing office in harlem 50 years ago, an historian michael beschloss, msnbc analyst, eugene robinson and chris matthews host of "hardball" "hardball." i'm fighting back the tears. i think that's the first time in my life, i am 43, that i saw the entire speech. it is amazing. you were there. you helped organize and i read an article where you said you didn't know if he would be able to measure up. all day you had heard incredible speakers and then dr. king came on. tell me again how that day was for you. >> well, i think he had an incredible challenge because what history has forgotten is how extraordinairery were all of the six civil rights leaders wowed me. but i have to tell you, he has just done it again to me. and as i listened, i understand how he did it. the bible has pair bes, you make

people understand by talking about things that they can touch and feel. well, king, if you listen to it, used parables. you know, the promissory note. there wasn't a black person in in that audience that that didn't touch and he takes the metaphors and spreads them out and uses the language. it's so important to hear the whole speech. he uses the language of the founding fathers and turns it back on beginning with 100 years later after the emancipation. and i had just come out of mississippi when he talked about the mole hills of mississippi. it seemed to me he had touched every single metaphor that would have -- that would have torn the

heart of any american who did not nurture racial sentiment. just as i believe given the fact that kennedy, who had opposed the march when he received the six leaders afterwards did so with great joy and embraced them. it seems to me that that speech, that march changed the president of the united states and a year later, we had the 1964 civil rights act. >> with that said, michael bes loss, we know initially a few months prior, president kennedy had met with the civil rights leaders and expressed his worry about this gathering of mostly african-americans. we know there were people from all over the corrupt, both black and white but it was mostly african-american and there was a worry from the president. >> yeah, he felt that this was something that he always feared an event like this that was spontaneous and could not be

controlled. there was a heavy national guard presence waiting. it was talking earlier in the afternoon, kennedy administration had a guy under that platform so that if anyone like john lewis sounded too radical, they were going to turn the volume on the recording of mahalia jackson singing "he's got the whole world in his hands." they were very nervous about it. it was at the end of the day that kennedy after hearing the speech felt huge relief. he had never heard an entire speech by martin luther king before. it was the first time and he was completely knocked out. >> chris, we've talked about it today how he evokes the declaration of independence, the me man's participation proclamation, the getstisburg with the five score years ago. he alluded to to that. i don't remember if it was chuck todd or someone today who said it was spiritual but also patriotic. a lot of people forget that you can challenge certain policies in place, good or evil, but this

was about patriotism that we are americans when you hear this speech. >>. >> well, really, historically, you can't be more american than african-american. just look at the average african-american. the family's been since 340 years in some cases. bhoest of the white people have been here since the second or third generation. that's affect. you can't be more american than the people who tilled the soil of this country back centuries. you just can't be. and here was martin lugar king saying we're not some ethnic group. we're america and he went to this wonderful reference point over and over again to the different topography of the country. he claimed the lan on which this republic lives as his land. that language about the imagery you're taught in school how to use imagery, using the curvaceous mountains of california and talking about the heightening alleghenys of pennsylvania and saying this land mass on which we live is america and civil rights belongs on that land mass, it was a

claim to america that was not just shakespearean and biblical, it was woody guthrie. it was wonderful. it was a statement of americanism for the 20th century. i thought it was spectacular. i'll tell you one thing, nobody's perfect. but that speech went beyond, it went beyond human ability at some point there to something truly inspired. it was something else. we're not going to hear another one of those speeches again for a while. >> let me bring you in, eugene. earlier today, congressman john lewis reminded those and i don't know how you could forget the circumstances of the time that led these people to be exas youed by the weight of racism, discrimination, the lack of jobs and lack of equality, quite honestly. let me play what congressman louis said today on those very steps. >> those signs that said white and colored are gone. and you won't see them anymore.

but they're still invisible signs, barriers in the hearts of humankind that form a gulf between us. too many of us still believe our differences define us instead of the divine spark that runs through all of human creation. >> eugene, and it is so true today when you think about some of the headlines of the incendiary headlines that seem to want to tear us apart and you have congressman louis, i have on my phone, for example, a poll tax receipt from one of my relatives in texas who had to pay to vote. and the conversations that we get distracted with where folks are trying to quite divide, conquer and divide and not talk about the real issues that continue today. >> yeah, and that continues, tamron. i remember those days. i remember when gas stations would have three bathrooms and men, women and colored. and so it was very useful i think for congressman louis to

remind us of that. to hear dr. king's whole speech again, you know, it's interesting that the point at which the speech takes off when he talks about i have a dream at the suggestion of mahalia jackson who says tell them about the dream mar tirn, in the background and it just takes off those two parts of the speech are fascinating to hear. and then as chris said, it's a source to another plain and you just think of the very few men and women in history who had that pa sort of power with their words to shape reality with their words and you think of lincoln, of churchill and dr. king. rice is right. we're not going to hear words that powerful again anytime soon. >> especially eugene, words that are from the heart, no script. this is ad lib as you mentioned. so many people don't realize it was mahalia jackson in the background saying tell them about the dream. he had the speech written and it was warming the crowd but then it went as they say these days,

next level. something that is destiny that cannot be written or scripted because it has to come from the soul. and sadly, you oo jean, it has to come so many times from great pain. >> well, it has to come from great pain but what's so extraordinairery is that it went not just to the next level but to some sort of universal truth. there is a kernel or more than a kernel of universal truth in that speech that is so rarely achieved. you know? as someone who uses words for a living, you write your whole life and you can't write anything that true and that pure. and that perfect. and it's just extraordinary. >> the speech was originally called normalcy never again. at the time in 1963, there were just five black members of congress. currently there are 43 members in the house. one in the senate. how are those african-americans,

which include yourself, providing an impact, if you will, and recognizing the struggles that continue both made in our community, created in our community and those that are outside forces that come in and contaminate and make it very difficult for there to be equality? >> well, 43 members of the congressional black caucus, of course, are the fruits of this march. and of one of the great statutes that came out of this march. the 1965 voting rights act. so we are kind of living testament to this march and its progeny. but as i listened to the speech, there's something else brilliant about the speech. the speech i agree about the universal nature of the speech and yet, he managed to talk to us all. now, remember, i'm from the impatient part of the crowd, the june louis part of the crowd. and yet, he satisfied -- he satisfied me by talking about

the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. now, we couldn't have said that. that was a be sncc idea, too. but he was seeking to us just not to say i'm where you are when it comes to not tolerating it segregation and discrimination. he was speaking directly to us when he said that he greets the marvelous new militancy and then, he began to ever so slightly admonish us to make sure that as we become more militant, we nevertheless embrace the universal truths of brotherhood. it's a marvelous thing to be able to do in a single speech to speak to those who are impatient, to speak to those who have never heard an african-american speak. to speak to those who need to be fired up. he did that by saying go right

back to mississippi. go right back. that's out of which i had just come. go right back to those states and continue to do what you've been doing and doing it with even greater force. >> and fast forwarding though to today, chris, i want to play a little bit of what president obama had to say on those steps. just about 30 minutes ago. let's play a part of the president's remarks today. >> to suggest as some sometimes do that little has changed, that dishonor is the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years. >> chris, your perspective on that remark in the president's speech today, as well. >> well, you know, this is an example, and this sound partisan, to hell with it. that's the speech the president gave today is an example of why there's no credibility to his right wing critics. is he a moderate. he is a pro american guy, a

patriotic guy who preaches over and over again unity among the various groups in this country. he never preaches division. he always prepares progress and getting along together. and people taking responsibility for their own lives. today he sounded a bit like bill cosby in that regard. get your act toogether. is he everything a white conservative should applaud how he educated himself and stayed clean as a whistle and raise this had beautiful family and did everything great as a father. everything that the white conservatives say is perfect. and he's perfect by their standards. and still they trash him as some kind of left wing socialist who somehow doesn't belong in the presidency. that's the rotten deal he's been thrown at for the last 4 1/2 years. he is everything the white consecutivatives should have designed and said our perfect african-american president. that's if they ever wanted there to be a black president of the united states. that's if. and that's when you've got to wonder about what does this guy have to do to win the approval

of the right wing white guy out there. >> chris matthews. >> is that too strong in i'm sorry, it is. >> thank you very much for your comments. eugene, as well. michael beschloss, and congresswoman, it was a pleasure to have your insight both today and certainly that day 50 years ago. thank you both. thank you all. coming up, reaction from some of the thousands of people from all over the country who surrounded the steps of the lincoln memorial on this many historic day in our nation's capital. we'll be right back. ♪ o beautiful for spacious skies ♪

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>> i think back over my grandfather and great grandfather and uncle's that is went through what they went through that myself would have just a chance, an opportunity that i have now, it is awesome for me. this is a once in a lifetime experience and one that i'll never forget. >> we've got to continue this dream. we're today to celebrate but it's not over. >> just some of the thousands of people reacting to today's events in washington, d.c. some were there 50 years ago when dr. king gave his "i have a dream" speech. nbc's ron mott has been there all day long. we heard from those people. i'm curious what folks said they would like to see next. >> hey there tamron. it was a special day for all the folks out here. i can speak for myself. it was a true honor to be here on this 50th anniversary. you saw a couple people i met with earlier from wichita, kansas who said this day is about celebration but it's also

in front of the reflecting pool a day to reflect not just on the past not just on august 1963 with you but where this country is today. you could see in the eyes of the people they were very proud to see this first african-american president take to the lectern today but they were also, you could see the expression in their eyes there was some concern about where we are headed as a nation. you can look back thering to that dome and there was a lot of division under that dome in our country and it is spread across from washington all the way from california to maine, and folks are really concerned about our future as much as they are about the present and today they wanted to celebrate but also redouble the efforts to keep the dream alive and not to be by spanned standers but to be part of the change they a this country so desperately needs at this point. >> ron, talk to me a little bit about the makeup of the crowd. we know 50 years ago, folks boarded buses. they got there any way they could. some hitchhiked.

we've heard all kinds of stories. they just needed to be there. what was the makeup of many of the people you spoke with today. >> very much like 1963. it was multiracial, multigenerational. people have come from all over the country to be here. there was a bigger crowd on saturday because obviously, it's a weekend and the kids are off from school. a smaller crowd today. i have to tell you earlier this morning, i was concerned there wouldn't be enough people to fill the sides of the mall all the way to the sides of the reflecting pool. by the time the vips and others got up there on the steps of the lincoln memory, you couldn't see too many empty spaces in the crowd. that was nice to see but it was america and it was special for me to take that in today. i was very happy and proud to be an american on this hall today. >> fantastic, ron. coming up, i'll speak with charlayne hunter-gault who says she was "glued to the television screen with tears running down her face when dr. king gave that speech 50 years ago. when was the first time you saw the speech?

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>> i vhave a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. i have a dream today. >> when martin luther king delivered his "i have a dream" speech 50 years ago there were five african-american members of congress. all of them were in the house. now there are 44 and just one in the senate. joining me now nbc news contributor char lane hunt eb galt, earl hutchinson. it's an honor to have both of you. char lane, let me start with

you. each read at the time where you were and we often ask people, do you already where you were. you cannot forget a moment like this. i said at the top of the show, i think this was the first time today that i saw is the entire speech uninterrupted over the years, we've seen excerpts because the family greatly protects this speech and rightfully so. that's why it was such a rare opportunity to play it uninterrupted today. but when you were this young woman starting out in this business, and you witnessed all of this in its true glory in realtime, what was that like for you? >> it was an elevating moment for me because i had just started as a young employee of "the new yorker" magazine where i ultimately wanted to be a writer. but i was on the way to fulfilling my dream. and so as i watched from my office in new york because i felt i had been there not long enough to leave immediately, tears just rolled down my eyes because so many of the people

who were at that the blarnlg responsible for me living my dream. i mean, you know, even before the reverend revered martin luther king, there were other who's had fought for the 1954 brown decisioning that outlawed separate but equal education in schools and that enabled me to attend the university of georgia as one of its two first black students in 1961. so all of those memories came back to me. and here i was enveloped in my dream and just hoping, hoping that the message of that will dwi enable other young black girs and boys to achieve their dreams as i was on the way to achieving mine into it is interesting, the message of king and berniece king called him today the prophet of this message today is a man. there weren't very many women who participated. just two women spoke that day and that is incredible when you hear today one of the most powerful speeches was from dr. king's own daughter and his sister who is a wonderful 85

years old charlayne. >> i thought that was just wonderful bus because i too remember, and of course, joyce ladner was one of the organizers of the march and a civil rights activist herself had pointed that out but that there were so many women who contributed like anna around hedgeman and so many of the young civil rights women who at that time were the more focused on racism than feminism, that came later with shirley chis yom, the feminism that black women embraced. but in those days there was so much racism that affected women and men than everybody was united behind ending race. there was no real grumbling about that. what i loved about today when john lewis spoke and when president carter and president clinton spoke, they did not censer their messages as they had skens ared john lewis's message because they thought it was too strong back in 1963.

>> earl, let me bring you in. it is amazing how we an reflect on our heroes today from dr. king, to muhammad ali, people at the time, and we know this the fbi instantly deemed dr. king one of the most dangerous "negros in this country." at the same time he was on the cover of "time" magazine and would receive accolades throughout the world. but he left those marble steps still in a divided america. >> and i think that's important to remember and remind people of. you know, dr. king actually had many messages, obviously the end of jim crow, the end of legal segregation, equality. of course, of the races but he had that other message. i have to point out to people, one of the themes of the march was a prominent theme. jobs and freedom. but dr. king also laid the groundwork in terms of jobs and freedom about poverty, and about bringing others in that basically there was a class component, too. because dr. king talked as we

know.many times about you know, it's one thing to integrate a lunch counter but you've got to have the money to actually buy a hamburger or coke. so he understood that there was a whole anotherdy dimension to the struggle, too. it is true, the fact can dr. king after the march in the latter part before his assassination, he was considered a pariah at the white house and in many ways, the organized civil rights movement and leaders actually distanced themselves from dr. king when he really began to pound on his anti-war message and, of course, poverty. >> in perspective with the president to date, you and char lane had an opportunity to hear his remarks. earl, let me get your thoughts. it was valerie jarrett saying that people want to making that can comparison instantly of the president and dr. king. one is leading this country, the other led in a different way as a civil rights activist as a preacher. but the president is more in line as valerie jarrett said with jfk. he's the leader of this country in a different way.

>> right. and that's important, too. an important comparison. you know, president obama has made it clear that he really stands on the shoulders of giants like martin luther king in terms of not only the fulfillment of political equality in this country and advancement graphic in americans and others so he owes a debt of gratitude to dr. king but he's also very careful too in many of his remarks and things that were observed about the president is that he's an administrator. he is a policymaker. he is in a supreme political position of power. he is not only needless to say the nation's political leader but a global leader. dr. king was a moral force. dr. king was a civil rights leader. yes, policy was important in terms of shaping it. but president obama actually implements policy. there's a clear difference between the two. >> earlier hutchinson and char lane haunter gault, thank you both for joining me.

coming up, what many speakers on the stage today said about the new generation what must be done next to keep dr. king's dream alive. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is claira. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap.

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>> coming up, joy reid and chris hayes will join me to discuss what's next in the civil rights fight. jamie foxx among the younger voices talking about the importance of the next generation to pick up. >> what we need to do now is the young folks pick it up now so that when we're 87 years old, talking to the other young folks, we can say it was me.

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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. >> dr. martin luther king jr. featured on the cover of this week's issue of "time" magazine, the headline "founding father." what about his skekers? joining me now chris hayes host of all in with chris harris". thanks for joining us. later tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern, you play dr. king's speech, as well in its entirety. it is rare for people to have this opportunity and msnbc is lucky enough to play the entire speech because the king estate owns the right to this video. it has a copyright on it until 203. and this is why so many people

have not seen it unflip theed. nothing in the middle, just the purity of the speech itself. and i myself as one of those people included in that. >> yeah, it was remarkable. i just watched it on our air just now and i've read it a bunch of times. i think i've seen it once or twice before. >> i've reenacted it in school place. but to see it on that screen with no break, we've seen it in documentaries sliced and diced but to pull it in the way we've been able to do today and at 8:00 with you i think is remarkable. >> and there's a bunch of things that come out of it when you watch it all in its entirety. one of them is the amazing interplay he has back and forth with the crowd. there's even a few lines almost biting. they're get a little ripple of laugh of recognition from the crowd and you can see there's a brief moment where a kind you have smirk plays across his face as he recognizes that the line has landed and you see this just incredible interplay between him and the hundreds of thousands who are gathered there and those

moments you know, those are very special things in any kind of public oratory in any kind of moments of politics or mass gatherings when this -- when the interaction between a speaker and a crowd somehow adds up to more than the sum of its parts. >> and speaking of the speaker and the crowd, let me play a little bit about what the president said today regarding the young people, the nex generations. >> the young are unconstrained by habits of fear. unconstrained by the conventions of what is. they dare to dream differently, to imagine something better and i am convinced that same imagination, the same hunger of purpose stirs in this generation. >> chris, we saw the hunger of purpose and the occupy movement. we've seen these flare-ups and seen them dwindle down. what is the expectation, the real expectation for the young people far younger than both of

us who will pick up the torch next? >> i think there's a variety of movements being led by young people today from the movement against stop and frisk in new york city where you are right now to the dream defenders down in florida philip agnew is one of the leaders of that move. with me tonight. we've seen it in the incredible dreamers movement who have literally linked hands in front of buses sending people away to be deported. there's a real moral force for we're seeing in this younger generation right now. >> i know you've got a big show. very significant guests to talk about the next level of this conversation. so that we don't constantly stay in the past. we must look towards the future. chris, thank you very much. a reminder you can see the full airing of dr. martin luther king's junior speech i doctor a dream at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. i will be watching to see you and your guesses discuss. thank you all for joining us today. coming up next is the ed schultz. that's the show for now. thank you for watching.

you can reach us on twitter and on facebook and we'd love to hear your insight on all of that. next up, ed schult \s>> good evening men marines. welcome to the ed schultz. live from new york. let's get to work. >> on a hot summer day, they assembled here. >> let freedom ring. >> this march and that speech changed america. >> his words belong to the ages. possessing a power and prove if i unmatched in our time. >> i have a dream. >>he